Also check out Bloomberg's video report on Dennis Hong's Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory.
Photo of Mark Riccobono and Dennis Hong by Steven Mackay.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Bloomberg TV News reports on Blind Driver Challenge
Also check out Bloomberg's video report on Dennis Hong's Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory.
Photo of Mark Riccobono and Dennis Hong by Steven Mackay.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
7 Tech Breakthroughs That Empower People With Disabilities
Text by Kelly Shaver
Adaptive technology is a fairly new term, but the basic idea is not. Some adaptive devices are simple, like the cane, which has a history as old as mankind itself. Others seem to come more from the realm of science fiction.
However mundane or complicated, all are a testament to human determination, creativity and ambition. Here, we look at seven high-tech assistive devices and how they’re helping those with disabilities lead full and fulfilling lives.
Read more...
Image above courtesy TED2011.
Take the Blind Driver Challenge at festival, by 'Daily Times'
Software developed at Virginia Tech to enable blind people to drive will be on display in a simulated driving module.
The Blind Driver Challenge evolved as a result of blind people who felt they had established independence in various arenas of their lives but did not have the luxury nor the privilege to drive, especially after having conquered so many obstacles that were deemed impossible for the blind.
The National Federation of the Blind, which seeks to improve the lives of blind people by advocacy and the pursuit of advancing technology, partnered with Virginia Tech to develop software and interfacing that would enable a blind person to operate a motor vehicle.
Read more...
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Busy September for Blind Drive Challenge vehicles...
The attention, some nine months after the newest debut of the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle at the Daytona International Speedway track, shows the impact that the National Federation of the Blind’s initiative started. As the NFB stated at the launch of the project, “The ‘Challenge’ is not the development of an autonomous car that drives a blind person around, but to develop a non-visual interface for a car that can convey real-time information about driving conditions to the blind so that we can use our own capacity to think and react to interpret these data and maneuver a car safely.”
Here's the "Anderson Cooper 360" clip featuring CNN correspondent Tom Foreman behind the wheel of the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle and talking to RoMeLa Director Dennis Hong. (In the image above, Foreman is wearing the blindfold, facing camera.)
Video: The Connection: Blind Drivers
From “The (Pittsburgh) Tribune-Review”
Franklin Regional junior in 5-day science program for visually impaired youth
By Paul Paterra
Tommy Brown has been fascinated by cars and how they work since he was a toddler.
"When I was young, I loved to play with cars," said Brown, 16, of Murrysville. "For a while, I've been interested in the building aspect."
With that in mind, the visually impaired teenager is working toward his dream of becoming an engineer, taking another step when he enrolled in Youth Slam in the summer.
"Mentors for (Youth Slam) are blind, visually impaired," Brown said. "I talked to them to see what they do, how they do it and what equipment they use ... to help me do a similar job."
Youth Slam is a five-day STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — academy held every two years for 150 visually impaired teens from across the country with "successfully blind" adults serving as mentors. The program, held at Towson University in Maryland, is sponsored by the nonprofit National Federation of the Blind…
Read more…
Stay tuned for more coverage of the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle.
Monday, August 22, 2011
RoboNexus reports, "TORC, VA Tech, U.S. Military Creating Cutting-Edge Technologies by Partnering"
Read more
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
ABC News visits Youth Slam camp, takes BDC vehicles for a demo drive
ABC News stopped by the morning of July 22 for a demo of the Blind Driver Challenge vehicles. Later, students at the camp had the chance to ride in the cars, driven by the NFB's Mark Riccobono and Anil Lewis.
In the image above, Virginia Tech Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) Director Dennis Hong and ABC News' Juju Chang wave their hellos from one of the BDC vehicles. Chang, wearing sleeper shades, took the wheel of the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle as part of a show focusing on Hong's work that will air in September.
For more photos, visit our Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/pzJjee
All photos by Steven D. A. Mackay.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Wired's Autopia Blog: 'Ford Proves That Blind Drivers Can Learn A Stick Shift'
Administrator's Note: This report by "Wired" magazine talks about a separate project to help the blind drive, but mentions in detail the Blind Driver Challenge...
Ford of Europe let 30 blind and visually impaired drivers get behind the wheel at their test track in Cologne, Germany in an attempt to give blind people a better understanding of automobiles and examine how they interact with cars.
Last week’s test drives put drivers in control of all vehicle inputs, responding to the directions of a sighted driving instructor. The fastest driver got their Fiesta up to 74 mph, and Ford reported that all drivers quickly mastered the fine art of a stick shift through feel and sound.
“Driving it was not a big problem for me,” said driver Katrin Berus of Kleve, Germany. “Operating clutch and gearshift was easier than I expected.”
Read more...
Ford of Europe let 30 blind and visually impaired drivers get behind the wheel at their test track in Cologne, Germany in an attempt to give blind people a better understanding of automobiles and examine how they interact with cars.
Last week’s test drives put drivers in control of all vehicle inputs, responding to the directions of a sighted driving instructor. The fastest driver got their Fiesta up to 74 mph, and Ford reported that all drivers quickly mastered the fine art of a stick shift through feel and sound.
“Driving it was not a big problem for me,” said driver Katrin Berus of Kleve, Germany. “Operating clutch and gearshift was easier than I expected.”
Read more...
CNN presents TED Talk reports: 'Why we made a car for blind drivers'
Blacksburg, Virginia (CNN) -- In our modern society, driving is really a necessity. It is a means of getting you to your destination wherever, whenever. Driving is also fun. Some people even consider it an expression of power. Most importantly, driving is really about freedom, about independence.
Sighted people, myself included, do it every day and take it for granted. Unfortunately, because of physical challenges, not everyone has the privilege to drive. My team of researchers wants to find a way to give the blind the ability to drive.
When we first announced that we were going to take up this challenge, many thought we were crazy, and most of the critics doubted that it could be done. Even some of my colleagues challenged us on the idea of developing a vehicle for the blind.
Read more...
Image courtesy TED Talk
Thursday, June 30, 2011
NFB congratulates Blind Driver Experience participants
Baltimore, Maryland (June 24, 2011): The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind people, today congratulated the thirty people who won the honor of participating in the Blind Driver Experience. On Tuesday, July 5, from 1–6:00 p.m., as part of the NFB National Convention in Orlando, the winners will get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ride in the Blind Driver Challenge™ car equipped with nonvisual technology (the same car that was driven on the famed Daytona International Speedway on January 29, 2011).
The participants of the Blind Driver Experience will be driven in the official Blind Driver Challenge vehicle by Mark Riccobono, executive director of the NFB Jernigan Institute, and the first blind person to drive a street vehicle in public.
The Blind Driver Experience is an initiative of the NFB Imagination Fund, which supports the education, technology, and research projects of the NFB Jernigan Institute, as well as programs conducted by the fifty-two affiliates and over seven-hundred local chapters of the Federation.
Read more...
Photo by John McCormick, Virginia Tech
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
From TED2011: Dennis Hong: Making a car for blind drivers
Hong, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at Virginia Tech spoke about the Blind Driver Challenge project and its Daytona Rolex24 debut at the TED2011 event, held in early March in Long Beach, Calif. Among his fellow speakers: Bill Gates, Bill Ford and Roger Ebert. Watch the video.
Image of Dennis Hong on the TED stage is courtesy of TED2011.
From 'Popular Science': How a Blind Man Drove the Daytona Speedway
Mark Anthony Riccobono, who is blind, drove a modified Ford Escape hybrid on the Daytona International Speedway, turning to avoid obstacles. He navigated using feedback from the car’s laser sensors and cameras, installed by a team of researchers from Virginia Tech and the company Torc Technologies. PopSci spoke by phone to Riccobono, the executive director of the National Federation of the Blind’s Jernigan Institute, which researches new technology for the blind.
How did you know when to turn?
The car’s laser range-finding sensors sent data to a computer, which in turn sent me directional information. I was wearing gloves with motors in the knuckle....
Read more...
Image of Mark Riccobono by Steven D. A. Mackay.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Blind Driver Challenge: Technology that Puts Blind People in the Driver's Seat
By Deborah Kendrick
Five years ago, when I first heard Dr. Betsy Zaborowski, then executive director for the Jernigan Institute at the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), speak about a car that blind people could drive, I remember thinking, Yes, that could be possible. At the time, I knew about cars with motion detectors that could sense the proximity of another vehicle, and I'd read about cars that were programmed to stay in the proper lane. I, like many others, assumed Dr. Zaborowski was talking about a programmable car—a car that could automatically take a blind person to a programmed address or set of coordinates, similar to the way GPS works.
That's also what Dr. Dennis Hong, professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, first thought when he was approached by the NFB to collaborate on a project that would enable a blind person to drive a car. After all, students at Virginia Tech had already developed an autonomous vehicle that could drive without a human. Dr. Hong soon learned, however, that an autonomous car was not at all what those at the NFB imagined. They wanted a car that would literally put a blind person in the driver's seat, detecting obstacles, determining turns, and making decisions.
"What can't you do?" is a question that most blind people hear from sighted friends and colleagues at one time or another. For me, the answer used to come easily: "I can't read print and I can't drive."
Read more...
Image of Mark Riccobono at the wheel of the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle by Steven D. A. Mackay.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Blind, and want to ride in the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle?
This achievement comes from the commitment and dedication of National Federation of the Blind members across the country. Whether it is the NFB's Blind Driver Challenge, the education programs, or any of the dozens of programs and services provided by NFB at the local or national level, it always begins with gathering the resources required to build our dreams for the future.
The NFB Imagination Fund is a primary source for the financial resources needed to build new programs. Those who help to collect those resources have the satisfaction of contributing to our future success. At our National Convention in Orlando, Fla., those who help raise considerable resources for the NFB Imagination Fund also will get to have their own Blind Driver Experience.
What is the Blind Driver Experience?
* An incredible opportunity for you and up to three of your friends to ride in the Blind Driver Challenge car -- the same car that was driven on the famed Daytona International Speedway -- while it is driven by a skilled blind driver
* An exclusive occasion to witness, up close, the non-visual access technology that makes it possible for a blind person to drive while experiencing a ride in the second-generation Blind Driver Challenge vehicle
* A unique chance to dialogue with a trained blind driver about the technology, the experience of testing the technology, and future interfaces for blind driving.
Thirty of this year’s Imaginators will have the honor of participating in the Blind Driver Experience during the convention. The top 10 Imaginators in overall dollars raised will automatically be selected to participate. The remaining twenty spots will be drawn at random from the pool of individuals who raised at least $1,000 and who plan to be in attendance at the convention.
In order to be eligible to participate in the Blind Driver Experience you must:
* Register for the Race for Independence (www.raceforindependence.org, or call (410) 659-9314 ext. 2371)
* Raise at least $1,000 or more, no later than June 15, 2011
* Register for the 2011 National Convention
* If selected, be available at the appointed time during the convention (participating individuals will be assigned a ride time on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 5)
Photo by Steven D. A. Mackay
Monday, March 7, 2011
Discovery Canada's 'Daily Planet' features Riccobono, Hong
Mark Riccobono talks with media at Daytona's celebrated winners circle. Image by Steven D. A. Mackay
From 'Fast Company': Welcome to the TED Revival: Blind People Drive, Paralyzed People Walk
First Dennis Hong presented the results of his robotics lab RoMeLa's collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind. They equipped a car with an accelerometer, GPS, two cameras, and laser rangefinders, and then created a set of novel nonvisual interfaces--vibrating gloves and seat mats, and a brand-new screen called the AirPix that looks like a tiny air hockey table. It uses puffs of air like pixels to create an "image" of obstacles in the road ahead... Read More.
Dennis Hong at Daytona International Speedway, 29 January 2011. Photo by Steven D. A. Mackay
Blind Driver Challenge appears on 'MotorWeek'
Image: Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of Blind, enjoys a quiet moment surrounded by his supporters at a press conference dedicated to the Blind Driver Challenge. Mr. Maurer is featured in this Motorweek segment. photo by Steven D. A. Mackay.
From "NEMS360.com": Road ready?: Blind Driver Challenge creates optimism
In January, he drove to Daytona, Fla., to witness the National Federation of the Blind's Blind Driver Challenge.
"I drove 1,800 miles round trip to see that car in action," Eskew, 50, said.
A blind man took the wheel of a Ford Escape equipped with non-visual technology, and drove a mile and a half around the Daytona International Speedway track.
With help from a system developed by Virginia Tech and TORC Technologies, the driver used cues... Read more.
Image: National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute Executive Director and BDC driver Mark Riccobono takes on the famed Daytona track. Photo by Suzanne Shaffer, an art director at the National Federation of the Blind.
Blind Driver Challenge appears on NBC's "Today Show"
Image: Mark Riccobono, executive director of the National Federation of the Blind's Jernigan Institute, and Dennis Hong, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia, in December 2010 at Danville, Va. Photo by Steven D. A. Mackay.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
CPD's Newsflash profiles Sachin Pavithran
The CPD's Sachin Pavithran is the CPD's assistive technology specialist and law and policy coordinator. He is also a member of the research and development committee of the National Federation of the Blind—and because of that connection he was involved in the development of a car that can be driven by someone who is blind.
The vehicle, a modified Ford Escape, debuted last month at the Rolex 24 in a pre-race demonstration at Daytona. Driver Mark Anthony Riccobono not only navigated 1.5 miles of the course but also avoided obstacles... Read more
Image from CPD's NewsFlash website
Friday, February 25, 2011
Virginia Tech students help bring Blind Driver Challenge to Daytona
As part of the ongoing Blind Driver Challenge, a blind man drove a 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid SUV on 1.5 miles of the famed course during the three-day Rolex 24 race extravaganza. At a top speed of 27 mph, he steered through a set of obstacles that included barrels and cardboard boxes randomly thrown from the back of a van. He then passed the moving van. Assisting the driver was high-tech hardware developed by Hokies, past and present.
The driver – Mark Riccobono, an executive with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) -- did perfectly. His trek complete, he parked the vehicle at track’s end and within minutes embraced and kissed his wife. The trek made international news: CNN, “Wired,” Fox News, and more.
The 10-minute trip caps years of research engineering work by teams of College of Engineering students, led by Dennis Hong, director of Virginia Tech’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory and associate professor of mechanical engineering.
“As Mark arrived safely at the finish line, hugging his wife with tears in his eyes, I couldn’t help but also cry,” Hong said. “I asked Mark if he could give me a ride back to my hotel. He is blind, but I knew he could see the big smile on my face.”
History
Having the freedom to drive an automobile has long been a dream of blind people. It’s among the first things they are told they never can do. But in 2004, the National Federation of the Blind – a nonprofit advocacy group based in Baltimore – put forth the Blind Driver Challenge: Create non-visual interface technology that one day could allow a blind person to safely and reliably drive an automobile.
Virginia Tech is the only university and research institution to take up the call. Work began in earnest in 2006. Within three years, undergraduate engineering students built a prototype buggy that used laser range finders to scan the surrounding environment and relay information back to the driver via a variety of new non-visual interface technologies.
From there, work began on the second-generation of Blind Driver vehicles, highway-ready cars that could conceivably by used on the open road. The set goal was large: Debut the cars on one of the most famous pieces of asphalt in the United States, a landmark among racing fans. The Daytona International Speedway.
Technology
To meet the goal, Virginia Tech enlisted the help of TORC Technologies, a company founded by College of Engineering alumni and based at the university’s Corporate Research Center. TORC had an essential ingredient: ByWire XGV technology that can be integrated to a vehicle, in this case two Ford Escape Hybrids. The tech provides reliable and safe electronic control of the vehicle and the capability to be stopped remotely, among other modifications.
Engineering students designed the non-visual interface devices used by blind drivers to steer and operate the vehicle. The hardware includes wire-enhanced vibrating gloves called DriveGrips and a vibrating seat cushion called SpeedStrip. Both interfaces vibrate certain cues that indicate directions to accelerate or halt, turn right or left. The vehicles can “see” obstacles and the road ahead, via strategically placed laser range finders and cameras.
With the technology in place to allow a driver to steer the SUV through a closed course, practice began. For months, on campus, at the nearby Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s Smart Road, and then the rural Virginia International Raceway in Danville, Va., Riccobono and other blind drivers tested the vehicles as students and TORC employees perfected the technology.
Daytona debut
Emotions and excitement ran high even before the Blind Driver vehicles debuted at the racetrack.
On the eve of Rolex 24, Riccobono for the first time was able to drive his family around a speedway-owned parking lot in one of the two Blind Driver Challenge SUVs. With his wife – who is also blind – in the passenger seat, and his two children strapped in the back, Riccobono drove the SUV, dodging traffic islands and other obstacles.
“This really hit home for me as my goal is to use engineering to help people overcome life’s toughest challenges,” said Paul D’Angio, a mechanical engineering doctoral student from Basking Ridge, N.J. Added Hong: “To witness and truly feel our hard work directly touching others hearts, giving people hope and inspiring others, was an experience that I will never forget.”
Riccobono himself said his driving the Daytona track was a historic moment for blind people all over -- there are an estimated 1.3 million legally blind people just in the United States – but that the short, quiet drive he took with his family was a personal life highlight.
He took an 18-degree bank, steered through white barrels, and navigated around those cardboard boxes thrown from the back of a van. A track announcer called out every move Riccobono made as he drove to demo’s end point. Riccobono exited the vehicle elated, emotional.
“People asked me what are you going to say, and I had some things in mind of what I was going to say,” Riccobono said afterward. “But for me the moment spoke for itself, there were no words. Even words that I conjure up ahead of time that would fit the moment.”
D’Angio was in the van, dropping the boxes the SUV dodged. “We made a large amount of practice runs, so during the actual track run we were focused on performing our individual tasks,” he said. “Once the vehicle came to a stop however, screams of celebration echoed throughout the lead vehicle ... after eight months of work we had finally done it!”
Back in Blacksburg, at least one Virginia Tech Blind Driver Challenge team member listened via Internet to the live broadcasted demo. “I could feel the excitement and palpable anticipation as Mark was handed the keys. I thought, ‘He’s really going to do this – it is reality. All the hard work is about to pay off,’” said Chelsea Cook, a freshman majoring in physics from Newport News, Va., who is blind.
“What came next seemed analogous to a space shuttle launch: Systems check, preparing the non-visual interfaces, checking their functionality, giving a thumbs-up to the other crews. I always get the sense that driving the [Blind Driver] vehicle is like being a test pilot: exhilarating, slight risk involved, and the old mantra: Pushing the edge of the envelope,” said Cook, a self-proclaimed “NASA geek.”
Future
What is next for the Blind Driver Challenge vehicles? Advocates at federation know well the barriers that loom before them are large, not just the technology-based hurdles, but the societal ones as well. Having blind drivers sharing the road is several years off. The technology likely will be ready before insurers, highway regulators, and everyday motorists are open to the concept.
Hong and his research team plan to meet the end-goal of the Blind Driver Challenge: Develop a car that can be driven by a blind person independently. “The SpeedStrip and DriveGrip interfaces were simple ‘instructional cue’ devices that we are moving away from, and we are now pursuing more sophisticated ‘informational cue’ devices for the driving interfaces,” Hong said.
“What we have shown at Daytona is that the human brain is capable of surpassing our wildest imaginations when coupled with the right technology,” said Jesse Hurdus, a software engineer with TORC who earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech. “Partnering with Virginia Tech and RoMeLa to achieve this difficult challenge shows the power of combining industry expertise with student creativity.”
“Humans do not adapt easily to what they think is impossible, unless, of course, you are brought up to embrace technology, as some of us in the blind community have,” said Cook, who has since driven one of the Blind Driver vehicles on a close-ended highway course. “The ability to control a vehicle independently is amazing, but I’m just as curious to see the spin-offs and applications in other fields until society is ready for us to hit the road.”
Editor’s Note: This is a full-text version of an article appearing at the Virginia Tech website. The original article includes additional photographs and video links about the Blind Driver Challenge. All images by Steven D. A. Mackay, Virginia Tech College of Engineering, and Suzanne Shaffer, National Federation of the Blind.
From the "Fremont (Nebraska) Tribune": FPS teacher watches blind man drive
Robinson, a teacher for Fremont Public Schools' Blind and Visually Impaired Program, watched Mark Anthony Riccobono drive a Ford Escape hybrid during the Rolex 24 in late January at Daytona Beach, Fla.
Riccobono's vehicle was equipped with non-visual technology, including a pad that gave him cues for when to stop, speed up and slow down, as well as gloves that indicated which direction to turn.
Riccobono also had to avoid obstacles, including boxes that were dropped from a van.
Robinson was amazed by... Read more
Image: As he exits the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle at Daytona International Speedway, Mark Riccobono is greeted by family, friends and cameramen. Photo by Steven D. A. Mackay.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
In Daytona: A photo album
Image: National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute Executive Director and BDC driver Mark Riccobono takes on the famed Daytona track. Photo by Suzanne Shaffer, an art director at the National Federation of the Blind.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
From 'Wired': High-Tech Car Allows the Blind to Drive
Mark Riccobono, a blind executive at the National Federation of the Blind, handled the curves, avoided obstacles thrown in his path from a van ahead of him and then passed that van. He did it in a vehicle built by students using off-the-shelf technology.
“That was fun because nobody expected that we’d do that,” Riccobono said. “We kept exactly what we were going to do on the track, we held that close to the vest and even our members didn’t know that was going to happen.”
Although we’re a long way from the day ... Read more
At the Daytona International Speedway, Mark Riccobono prepares to drive the Blind Driver Challenge car known as BRIAN. Photo by Steven D. A. Mackay
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Virginia Tech video of a triumphant run
Riccobono, executive director of the NFB's Jernigan Institute, said he was "honored" to be the first person to taker the race course as part of the Blind Driver Challenge. More personal, though, Riccobono said was the chance to drive his family -- wife and two children -- around a nearby parking lot the day prior. The car's public debut came at the famed Rolex24 race.
Added Dennis Hong, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, "The Daytona demo we did is just the beginning. It was to let the world know about the challenge, and to inspire other scientists and researchers to join our efforts in developing technology for the blind."
Video edited by Virginia Tech's Josh Napier.
Photo: A triumphant and emotional Mark Riccobono talks to a cameraman (just out of frame), after his Daytona demo drive. Image by Steven D. A. Mackay
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Virginia Tech video: Behind the Blind Driver Challenge
Photo by Steven D. A. Mackay
Monday, February 7, 2011
From Engadget: 'Hokies give (tactile) sight to the blind so they can drive...'
Daytona International Speedway is synonymous with speed, auto racing, and . . . blind people? Virginia Tech's Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa), along with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), recently debuted its sight-optional and street-legal SUV at the famed racetrack. Dr. Dennis Hong and his students first let blind folks drive a dune buggy without the help of a sighted copilot in 2009 -- as a first step to achieving the goal of a street-legal SUV for the sightless crowd.
Read more
Photo by Steven D. A. Mackay
From Inside Science News Service: 'Driving Blind At Daytona'
(ISNS) -- Last Saturday, a blind driver dodged cardboard boxes thrown in front of him while driving a modified Ford Hybrid Escape around the Daytona International Speedway.
He had only seconds to react to the obstacles.
"If we just put boxes on the track, people might think we planned the route," said Dennis Hong, whose robotics and mechanisms lab at Virginia Tech modified the cars.
Instead, Hong's team threw boxes from a van so they bounced around. “That shows everyone that their position is random, and that the drivers are really driving,” said Hong.
Read more...
Photo by Steven D. A. Mackay
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Images from a historic day for the blind at Daytona
Scenes from today’s successful run of the Blind Driver Challenge car at the Daytona International Motorspeeday, part of the Rolex24 Race. There, Mark Riccobono, of the National Federation of the Blind, drove the track in a modified 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid SUV. The vehicle uses a variety of non-visual interfaces to assist the driver in the tasks of driving – steering, braking, accelerating and the like. After the demo, Riccobono said starting today, "being a blind driver is no longer an insult."
In the following photos:
A blind child uses his hands to feel one of the cars, modified by students at the Virginia Tech College of Engineering and engineers at TORC Technologies, a company based in Blacksburg.
(Left to right) Virginia Tech College of Engineering doctoral student Paul D’Angio and masters student Ryan Colby, both in mechanical engineering, talk to Virginia Tech associate professor Dennis Hong. The trio, along with a score of other graduate and undergraduate students at the university, spent months preparing for Saturday’s event in Daytona.
Laura Strickland, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, explains the non-visual interfaces of the Blind Driver Challenge car to members of the National Federation of the Blind. It should be noted that not all members of NFB at the event are blind, many are family or friends of the blind.
Photos by Steven D. A. Mackay
In the following photos:
Photos by Steven D. A. Mackay
Success at Daytona
Photo by Steven D. A. Mackay
Taking the track ... today
Later that night, at a hotel along Dayton’s world famous beach, the National Federation of the Blind hosted a rally to celebrate this great technological achievement. Among the speakers was NFB President Marc Maurer. His great words: “This is not the end … This is just the beginning!” Dennis Hong, Virginia Tech associate professor of mechanical engineering, also spoke. He celebrated the efforts of his undergraduate and graduate students at the College of Engineering. “We always deliver.”
And, now, two hours before the race, all are excited. At the racetrack, stands are filling up, the BDC cars are being prepped and Riccobono is ready to take the wheel. To listen to an audiocast of the race go here: http://nfbrolex24.serverroom.us:5144/index.html
And with that, we’re taking the track…
Friday, January 28, 2011
One day to until the big debut at Daytona...
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Blind Driver Challenge vehicles take the track
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sneak Peak: Daytona International Speedway
Photo blog: 18 January 2011 at VIR
Images by Steven Mackay
From the archives: 'Washington Post' covers Blind Driver Challenge
As we draw closer to the Rolex24 public demo of the second-generation Blind Driver Challenge vehicle at the Daytona Motor Speedway, let's take a quick look back at the highlights of this great journey, a Race for Independence. The date: July 31, 2009. The place: The University of Maryland campus, College Park, Md. The event: More than a dozen youth and several adult counselors participating in the National Federation of the Blind's 2009 Youth Slam Camp became among the first to drive the Blind Driver Challenge car.
Among the media that came to see this historic, uplifting event was "The Washington Post." Here is their report on the day's events, including a text story, photo slide show and a video, featuring Anil Lewis' now famous "Blind man driving!" shout of joy.
Image: A youth participant in the NFB's summer camp takes the wheel. In the passenger seat is Greg Jannaman, a then-Virginia Tech senior who led the Blind Driver Challenge student team. He since has graduated.
Blind Driver Challenge at Daytona's Rolex24
The second-generation Blind Driver Challenge vehicle is now at the world-famous Daytona International Speedway, just days away from its public demonstration at the Rolex 24 Race. There, thousands of race fans will watch as a blind person takes the wheel of this modified 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid SUV drive the in-field track. Also expected to be cheering in the stands: Hundreds of blind people who are part of the nonprofit Federation.
“This historic demonstration of a blind person independently driving an automobile will be a tremendous exhibition of the capacity of a blind person using innovative non-visual access technology to perform a task most people thought impossible for a blind person,” said Anil Lewis, director of strategic communications for the National Federation of the Blind. “The foundation of many misperceptions about blind people and blindness will be shaken.”
The Blind Deriver Challenge is part of a history making initiative – pitched by the Federation, and accepted by the Virginia Tech College of Engineering’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory -- that one day could allow blind people to drive an automobile. Partnering with the Federation and Virginia Tech is TORC Technologies, based in Blacksburg, Va.
The Rolex24event is a 24-hour endurance race for sports cars. The 49th running of the event is set for Jan. 29-30, 2011, at Daytona and will be accompanied by 24 hours of other events. The Blind Driver Challenge is scheduled to take the track at 11:30 a.m. (Eastern) Jan. 29. (Neither car will take the oval track.) The official Rolex 24 race starts at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and runs until 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
Added Dennis Hong, a Virginia Tech associate professor of mechanical engineering and director of RoMeLa: “As we stand on the race track of the Daytona International Speedway, the sheer scale of it takes our breath away. Imagining the tens of thousands of spectators cheering and watching the world's first public demo of our hard work makes my heart pound. ‘How many times in your life time do you think you have an opportunity to change the world?’ I ask my students. Developing technology to help the society, we are indeed changing the world right here, right now...”
Follow this blog, or join us on twitter for updates as the public demo nears. http://twitter.com/VTEngineering.
Image: One of the Blind Driver Challenge vehicles at the Virginia International Raceway in Danville, Va., on January 18, 2011. Photo by Steven Mackay
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Blind Driver Challenge vehicles: A roster
Thus far, four vehicles have been directly used as part of the National Federation of the Blind's Blind Driver Challenge. Each vehicle was modified with non-visual interfaces, which have been update, replaced or placed on hold as each new prototype was introduced. Work has been led by Dennis Hong, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech and director of the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory, and his team of graduate and undergraduate engineering students since 2006. This past year, TORC Technologies joined the Challenge.
An overview of each vehicle:
DAVID: Demonstrative Automobile for the Visually Impaired Driver. The $2,000 modified red dune buggy that started it all. This is the vehicle debuted at the 2009 NFB Youth Slam and was a hit hundreds of media outlets around the world – most significantly garnering a front page story with “The Washington Post” and a spot on CBS’ “The Early Show.” Status: Now on display at the national headquarters of the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore, Maryland.
VIVIAN: Visually Impaired Vehicle Interfaces for Advanced Navigation. This golf cart was used to test different configurations of the sensors and non-visual interfaces. Status: A temporary-use vehicle, it is no longer part of the Blind Driver Challenge project.
BRIAN: Blind Research Interfaces for Advanced Navigation. A black 2010 Ford Hybrid Escape, part of the official second generation BDC vehicle team which we will be publicly debut at the Rolex24 on January 29, 2011, at Daytona International Speedway.
ANDREA: Automobile for Non-visual Driving Research, Education and Advancement
This charcoal 2010 Ford Hybrid Escape is exactly identical as BRIAN except in color. It also will be publicly debut at the Rolex24 on January 29, 2011, at Daytona International Speedway.
Images by Steven D. A. Mackay and John McCormick/Virginia Tech.
An overview of each vehicle:
This charcoal 2010 Ford Hybrid Escape is exactly identical as BRIAN except in color. It also will be publicly debut at the Rolex24 on January 29, 2011, at Daytona International Speedway.
Images by Steven D. A. Mackay and John McCormick/Virginia Tech.
Blind Driver Challenge: The who, what, where, when and why
The National Federation of the Blind’s Blind Driver Challenge is one of the most innovative and far-reaching research initiatives of the nonprofit’s research center, the Jernigan Institute. It is an initiative to develop non-visual interface technology that conveys real-time information about a driving environment so that it will be possible for a blind person to one day safely and independently operate a car.
As NFB and its project partners -- the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech and TORC Technologies -- work to ensure that a blind person can access the information necessary to confidently press the accelerator of an automobile, the team also is accelerating development of other nonvisual access technologies that will ensure that blind people will remain independent and competitive.
This ground-breaking research initiative of our NFB Jernigan Institute challenges universities, technology developers, and other interested innovators to establish NFB Blind Driver Challenge teams, in collaboration with the NFB, to build interface technologies that will empower blind people to drive a car independently.
The “Challenge” is not the development of an autonomous car that drives a blind person around, but to develop a non-visual interface for a car that can convey real-time information about driving conditions to the blind so that we can use our own capacity to think and react to interpret these data and maneuver a car safely.
Image: Wesley Majerus finishes driving the first prototype Virginia Tech Blind Driver Challenge vehicle on a campus driving course in May 2009. In the passenger seat is Greg Jannaman, who led the student design team during its public debut year. Photo by Steven Mackay
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